


New Moon

by noisey_burlesque_peach



Category: Original Work
Genre: Character Study, Flirting, Grave Robbers, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-05
Updated: 2020-01-05
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:41:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22126564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noisey_burlesque_peach/pseuds/noisey_burlesque_peach
Summary: John Lyre is a man of many secrets, some of which may just get him killed someday. Now, he finds himself in need of a change of scenery, but that may just mean working with a mysterious and frankly alluring man who has already lied about his identity once. Is a new beginning worth the macabre task they must perform in order to leave this dull town? Can John even trust a man who has told him nothing but lies? It’s all so hard to decide when Wilde is looking at him that way....
Relationships: Original Male Character & Original Male Character, Original Male Character/Original Male Character
Comments: 2
Kudos: 1





	New Moon

**Author's Note:**

> I had to write this for my creative writing class a few months ago. It’s called an iceberg story which is a term coined by Hemingway in which the writer reveals minimal details about the situation or just the “tip of the iceberg”.
> 
> This is the first original work I’ve posted here so I hope y’all like it!

The sky was dark and clear at this time of night, or rather, morning. It was early, too early for anyone to be up. There were no cars on the road this time of night, not that there were many during the day. This part of town was fairly secluded with shut down mills on either side of the road. In the height of its popularity it had been an urban area with a few little shops and apartment buildings where the mill workers lived. Now the apartment buildings were all condemned and only housed junkies and squatters. The town itself was a beautiful suburban area that was regarded as one of the safest places to live, but all the residents knew to stay off this street. 

The eerie silence of the night was broken by the echoing of footsteps against the cracked asphalt. Two men walked down the street at a pace too quick to be a stroll but too slow to be a jog. One had dark, fluffy hair and wore a maroon suit that looked like it cost more money than would be needed to renovate an entire building in this area. 

The other had sandy blonde hair and wore a dirty grey trench coat and sneakers. 

“Where are we going Wilde?” The blonde man asked the other.

“You’ll see soon enough John. Keep your voice down, it’s dangerous around here.” The taller one, Wilde, adjusted the strap of his briefcase that was slung over his shoulder. 

“I swear to god Wilde, if you get us murdered, I’ll kill you,” John hissed.

“Well that seems a little redundant. And I told you I’d get you out of here in one piece didn’t I?”

John’s only response to that was a grunt. 

“And please, we’ve been working together for so long now-”

“Three days,” John interrupted.

“-you can call me by my first name.”

“Which one?” the shorter man mumbled under his breath.

“That’s hardly fair John, you can’t let one little lie determine the course of our entire relationship.”

“Professional relationship,” John corrected. “And you lied about your name, the first words you ever said to me. How do I know you’re telling the truth now?”

“You can’t, you’ll just have to trust me I guess.” 

“Yeah? Don’t hold your breath. Or do, I’d have one less issue to deal with.” 

“Oh come now darling, don’t be like that. If I didn’t care about you I wouldn’t be straining myself trying to secure our livelihood right now.”

“Straining yourself? You’ve got a briefcase. I have to haul these rusty hunks of metal around.” John huffed and adjusted his grip on the two shovels that were giving him blisters on his palms.

“Yes but the case is ever so dirty,” Wilde whined. “Do you know how much this suit cost? I’m never going to get the stains out. And it all smells so foul of decay!” to prove his point, Wilde held the case away from him and wrinkled his nose. 

“Please, it still looks better than anything I own. Besides, you shouldn’t have worn it. You knew we were going to be-” John cut himself off.

“What’s wrong dear?” 

“I thought I heard something. It came from that alley.”

The two men crept towards the dark alley silently. Not even the light from the stars illuminated it, the shadow of the building keeping it in obscured. There was a streetlight in front of it but the bulb was smashed out. 

“Get behind me John,” Wilde whispered.  
“I’m the one with the weapon, you should get behind me Wilde.”

“Please, are you going to shovel them to death? I’ve got this.” Wilde stepped out in front of John, pulling a tube of lipstick out of his breast pocket and holding it out in front of him.

“What are you gonna do? Give them a makeover?”

“Have you never heard of a concealed taser?”

“Oh.” Was all John could say.

“That’s why you’re the beauty, not the brains.” 

They shuffled closer to the source of the noise, Wilde with his lipstick-taser poised and ready to attack. The sound came again, a little chirping kind of noise that startled the men. John, in a moment of quick thinking grabbed a rock from the ground and threw it into the alley. The thud of it hitting the ground was followed by a hiss and a scared cat jumping out into the light. 

“Oh John! You’ve gotten me all worked up over nothing,” Wilde said, tucking the taser back into his pocket. They took a quiet moment to collect themselves before John spoke again. 

“Careful you don’t confuse that with your real lipstick.”  
“You never store a tube of lipstick in your pocket John, your body heat will soften it and make at all sticky. I keep my lipstick in my purse,” Wilde said, gesturing to the black purse that was on the opposite shoulder than the briefcase.

“You learn something new every day,” John mumbled. 

“I suppose we should get going if we want to make it to the rendezvous before sunrise.” The two men carried on their way, dodging the various potholes as they went. 

“It’s quiet tonight. It’s the new moon, shouldn’t the crazies be out?” John asked.

“You’re thinking of the full moon darling. The people who live around here believe the new moon is a bad omen. They’ll stay inside until the sun is up.”

“Well they won’t have to wait long,” John said, glancing behind him to where the sun was beginning to rise. “How much further?” 

“Just up ahead on the corner of High and Hope.” John looked ahead to where Wilde pointed. There was a woman standing alone, wearing a hoodie and carrying a small duffle.

“Are you Mimi?” Wilde asked. 

“Tonight I am. What do you have for me?”  
Wilde pulled a ziplock bag out of the briefcase. It was filled with old ornate jewelry and other treasures.  
“They’ll need a good scrub but otherwise they’re as good as the day they were buried.” 

Mimi didn’t say anything else, she just took the bag and gave Wilde a few stacks of cash.  
“Pleasure doing business with you ma’am.”  
She didn’t reply, she just scowled and turned away. 

“Not so fast,” John said, catching her wrist. She looked as him in disgust. How dare he touch her.  
“Make sure it’s all there Wilde.” 

Wilde counted the cash quickly, mumbling the numbers to himself. Mimi tried to shake free of John’s grasp without straining either of them too much, but John didn’t budge. 

“Smart boy you are John. You’re short. We agreed on $500. This is only $430. I don’t suppose you have any more on you,” Wilde said with a toothy grin that told Mimi she had lost. 

She begrudgingly reached into her pocket and handed the rest of the money to Wilde. 

“You’re clever,” she said to John, yanking her arm free at last. “Careful it doesn’t get you killed. I’ll give you some friendly advice, free of charge. Learn to shut your mouth.” With that she scoffed at them and receded into the shadows. 

“Well that went well,” John said.

“Better than it has in the past,” he sighed. “Well love, I think this is plenty enough to get us a few states over. By noon we’ll be crossing the border. Care for a coffee before we leave?”

“Sure, but we’d better get going if we wanna make it to the train station on time. Thomas.”


End file.
